1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a horizontal band saw, and more particularly to a horizontal band saw that can make bevel cuts in a workpiece.
2. Description of Related Art
Band saws are often used to saw a huge workpiece into small pieces, such as to saw logs into lumber. One type of band saw is a horizontal type. The horizontal type band saw has an endless bandsaw blade. The endless bandsaw blade is a metal belt and is operated horizontally.
With reference to FIG. 4, a horizontal band saw in accordance with the prior art comprises a sawing mechanism (80), a frame (90), an elevating device (not numbered) and a horizontal conveyer (92). The sawing mechanism (80) is mounted on the frame (90) and comprises a housing (81), two wheels (82), a bandsaw blade (83), a cover (85) and a power assembly (not shown). The housing (81) has a top (not numbered), a bottom (not numbered), a front (not numbered), a rear (not shown), a cavity (not numbered) and a cutting window (84). The cavity is defined in the front of the housing (81). The cutting window (84) has two sides (not numbered) and is defined in the bottom of the housing (81) from the front to the rear to permit a workpiece (not shown) moving on the conveyer (92) to pass through the housing (81) and be cut. The wheels (82) are rotatably mounted in the cavity of the housing (81) respectively at the sides of the cutting window (84). The bandsaw blade (83) is an endless band with multiple cutting teeth (not shown) and is mounted around and driven by the wheels (82). A segment of the bandsaw blade (83) is located horizontally across the cutting window (84) to cut a workpiece.
The power assembly is mounted on the rear of the housing (81) to drive at least one of the wheels (82).
The cover (85) is attached to the top of the housing (81) to selectively cover the cavity in the housing (81).
The sawing mechanism (80) is mounted on the frame (90) with the elevating device. The frame (90) has a top (not numbered), a front (not numbered) and a rear (not numbered). The elevating device comprises two hydraulic cylinders (91) that are mounted respectively in the frame (90) at the front and the rear of the frame (10). Each of the cylinders (91) is mounted vertically and has a rod (not shown). The rod can either retract into or extend out of the cylinder (91) and has an outside end (not shown). The outside ends respectively connect to the bottom of the housing (81) to lift or lower the whole sawing mechanism (80) in the vertical direction.
The conveyer (92) is mounted on the top of the frame (90) below the cutting window (84). Therefore, the workpiece can be placed and clamped on the conveyer (92) and moved horizontally by the conveyer (92) through the cutting window (84) where the running bandsaw blade (83) cuts the workpiece horizontally.
Since the whole sawing mechanism (80) only can be lifted up or lowered in the vertical direction by the cylinders (91) of the elevating device, a bevel cut in the workpiece is impossible without any other aids. The vertical movement of the sawing mechanism (80) only allows the thicknesses of the horizontal cut to be varied. The usage and application of the conventional band saw is limited.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a horizontal band saw with a capability to make a bevel cut in a workpiece to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.